Mesage

 

Acts 16.31 “What must I do to be saved?”

My message went like this:

The desperate prison guard cried out :”What must I do to be saved?” What he meant by ‘saved’, I don’t know. He may have wanted to be saved from execution, but rather, he had been listening to Paul and Silas singing and praying!

Paul wrote a letter to the people down the road at Ephesus about the need to be ‘saved’.

Ephesians 2

1.     The problem of sins and trespasses causing disconnection from God.

2.     The pull of the course of this world taking people down the broad road.

3.     The deception of the prince satan, master of media.

4.     Peer pressure to disobey God

5.     Destruction by passion and lust

6.     Dominance of body over spirit

7.     Human anger blaming God for things going wrong

8.     Common condition of humanity – LOST

A real need to be SAVED.

 

So God interrupted the situation with mercy (withholding the punishment deserved). God’s love moved Him to graciously provide a remedy by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Now God only calls for faith in Him – not by works or ritual.

God establishes the connection – reconciled believers accepted into the family of God.

But more -verse 7- God promises the repentant believer a place in the future glory at the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

In summary, verse 8 –“For by grace are you saved through faith, not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as result of works, so that no one may boast”

 

So the wonder of it all is, that we all , like the prison guard can be ‘SAVED’

 

Faith in Jesus Christ  is a commitment that leads to action – as with the prison guard, caring for the needs of others ( he washed their wounds and gave them food), but also declared publicly his new allegiance to Jesus Christ by immersion in water (baptism)

 

The outcome – joy in the whole household as they listened  to  and believed the Word of the Lord.

 

The answer to the question was concise and true :

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your household.”

 

Three words are needed in English to convey the meaning of believe:

1.      Believe in Jesus for who He is and what He has done.

2.     Trust Him for what He promises to do for us

3.     Faith that believes His words as God’s words

 

Faith is just believing

What God says He will do

He will never fail us,

His promises are true

If we but receive HIM

His children we become

Faith is just believing,

The wondrous work is done.

 

SAVED from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1)